One (A SPM AU BASED ON LN2)

The Epilogue

~ After The Ultimate Show ~

I often forget the important things.

I often forget myself. I forget who I was before Count Bleck. What I wanted to be and what I stood for.

I often forget what I wanted.

What DID I want? What was the one thing I always wanted?

It's simple, really...

I always wanted to be loved. And somehow, I had forgotten that.

But not anymore.

I remember... I remember who I am now.

Today was a day of much remembering. A day that should have come long ago.

I heard white noise. My memories were fuzzy. I could barely even recall what had just happened. The world seemed too bright, filled with white fluffiness. I was waiting for my eyes to adjust before trying to process where in the worlds I was.

I remember wedding bells... I remember smiling... I was smiling. I was... happy. Something I hadn't felt in so, so long. 

I remember Timpani... Timpani! Timpani was there! Yes... 

I remember the promise I made to her. The promise that if there was a place we could be happy, we'd find it.

I remember... I remember holding my hand out to her. I remember saying,

"Will you come with me to that place now," I whispered softly to myself, as the happy memory resurfaced in my mind. 

I could feel something drop from my face. Water? Tear? A tear had fallen? I wasn't even aware that I was crying.

And now... where was I?

I blinked my eyes, only to squint. It was so very bright up here, the sun beaming down over everything. It was almost too much, yet I wished there was more. 

There wasn't even a shadow in sight.

So this... this was the sun? But how... how did I find it? Why did I find it? 

I could feel it shower over the land, filling me with a warm feeling. The warm feeling I used to search for. The warm feeling I had given up on finding long ago.

"The sun's back..." I whispered softly to myself, lightly smiling and wiping the water from below my eyes. "I-It's back."

Happy. This was happy.

It was even more beautiful than I had ever hoped and dreamed. It shone brightly all around, not allowing a single person up here to stay in the dark. It wasn't like the moon, which only ever cast its spotlight onto a select number of people, but it shined down on everyone.

I closed my eyes and lifted my chin, allowing the fresh, bright beams to stream down onto my face, exposing me to this world.

Happy. I hoped I would remember this feeling. Happy.

And I stayed just like that, feeling happy until something else finally pulled my attention away from the sun.

"No..." I suddenly heard someone behind me whimper. The voice sounded lost, small, and broken. "No, no, no..."

They sounded devastated. But why? Why would someone sound so upset in such a happy place? Did they not see the sun? Did they not see that they were no longer in the darkness?

I quickly turned around to see who, but Dimentio, wearing his usual jester attire, but sitting on his knees about twenty feet away, sitting with his back to me, slowly shaking his head and looking down.